Just A Job
by PlaceboNut
Summary: Elena is looking for her place in Midgar, while the Turks discover the need for a female recruit. A chance meeting.. the rest is history. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Just A Job**

Chapter One:

'I _hate_ Midgar!' Elena thought angrily, as she tripped over her third piece of scrap metal of the day. 'Hate it! Hate it! _Hate it_!' She continued to mutter and gave the piece of pipe a hard kick. For her trouble she earned a few sore toes and a greasy smudge on the end of her boot. She gave it a dirty look before setting off again towards the train station.

She'd had a bad day and just wanted to go to bed; though the thought of her dingy little flat with its flickering lights and mouldy carpet was enough to make her consider just falling asleep on the train station steps. Her plan was dashed, however, when she reached the station and discovered her potential resting place was already occupied by three grizzly men and one woman in sleeping bags. Oh well.

It's not like this particular day was anything different to every other day she had lived through since coming to Midgar just over one year ago. Why had she done that again? Oh yes, that's right: to _make_ something of herself.

'And what a _fine_ job I'm doing,' she thought bitterly, kicking a lump of loose concrete along the platform while she waited for the train. When it eventually fell off the edge and onto the tracks, she approached the sleepy-looking guard and paid a few gil for her ticket to Sector 3.

The train, of course, was late. A good twenty minutes late, to be exact. When it finally arrived, Elena all but ran into the closest carriage in order to escape from one of the grizzly old men in the sleeping bags who must have caught her longing glance at his step earlier. He'd been insisting since she'd bought her ticket that "the pretty lady come an' share me sleepin' bag." Finding a seat, she pointedly looked away from the window facing the platform until the train was well out of the station.

With a forty-five minute train trip ahead of her and nothing else to do, Elena passed the time reflecting on what she'd achieved so far. She'd left her home town of Icicle Inn and arrived in Midgar just over twelve months ago. It had taken her less than a week to begin to regret her decision. Although she'd organised the apartment before she had left home, it had taken her a lot longer than she had anticipated to find herself a job. She had been forced to forfeit some of her nicest jewellery and her only weapon (a small hand-gun her father had bought for her) to pay the rent.

The apartment directly above Elena's belonged to a woman named Candice, who was the closest thing Elena had had to a friend since coming to Midgar. Candice was quite stunning to look at – with thick, dark hair, big eyes and curves like Elena could not even imagine having, she had taken full advantage of her looks and succeeded in sweet-taking the landlord into letting Elena IOU her rent. She then helped Elena find her current employment at the Wall Market Gym.

Washing dirty towels and administration work was not exactly Elena's prime idea of a good job, but in the slums of Midgar she had little choice. It did, however, provide her with the opportunity to use the gym equipment free of charge after work. Despite being a bunch of strangely feminine muscle-heads, the gym members had been kind enough to offer her a few kick boxing lessons. She had learned surprisingly quickly and using her natural speed and new skills she could soon out-wit, if not openly beat, most of the gym's most frequent visitors.

Candice worked above the plate in a bar called Steam, and she promised to look out for any job openings. So far, nothing had come up.

Despite her vibrant personality, Candice was just like everyone else who lived beneath Midgar. She had lost all hope of real happiness long ago, and with that hope went her dignity and self-respect. It was common knowledge that Steam was popular among Shinra soldiers and other employees not because of the good drinks, but because the bar maids were quite willing to sell themselves along with their beer if a customer matched their price.

It had taken Elena a few weeks to catch up on her rent, but as soon as it was paid she invested into another small pistol and a thin blade. It had not taken her long to realise that Midgar is a lot less safe than Icicle Inn, so she took to keeping the pistol in her handbag and she slipped the little blade into an added pocket in her bra-strap.

As the train pulled into Sector 3, she fingered it out habit and found confidence in the stiff shape it created beneath her work shirt. Her apartment building was immediately across the street from the train station – a convenience she had always appreciated.

Exhausted from the hour and a half workout she had given herself after work, Elena dragged her feet into the dirty, two storey building. A quick glance at her mail box revealed it to be empty – no surprise there. She sometimes received letters from her father, but her replies were always brief and far between so he seemed to be giving up lately.

Her key was half way into the keyhole when she heard her name being called. She turned to find Candice bounding down the stair towards her.

"Elly!!" She yelled again, despite now being less than 2 metres away. Elena's wince at the loudness turned into a defensive block as Candice's much more shapely body slammed into her, pulling Elena into an excited bear-hug.

"I've got ya a job, Elly! You're gonna be workin' with me at Steam! Your first shift is tomorrow night!"

Elena's blond eyebrows just about reached her hairline.

"Huh..?" she replied to Candice's expectant expression. She was not sure how to respond: although not all the waitresses at Steam were prostitutes, Elena did not want to be labelled a whore merely because many of her workmates were.

"Oh, come on!" Candice said, disappointment had begun to settle on her features as Elena failed to show the excited gratitude that was no doubt expected.

Elena smiled, and felt it become less and less forced as Candice grinned back. 'I guess if its only temporary, I could use a change of scenery,' she thought, reasoning with the proud part of her brain that was still telling her it would be more dignified to just continue working at the gym.

"Okay," she said aloud, ignoring her doubts. "I'm sure one of the guys can fill in my place at the gym 'til they find a replacement."

Candice squealed with delight and threw her arms around Elena's shoulders, only to pull away with a short gasp less than a second later. Elena nearly lost her balance due to her friend's unpredictable movement. When she had re-composed herself she stared at Candice in surprise, and found Candice staring right back at her: eyes wide and mouth in a grin so wide it was cracking the thick layer of make-up on her face.

"Candy..?" Elena asked, suddenly nervous.

"Ya know what you're gonna need now, don't ya?" she said, her grin only seeming to widen to an even more impossible size. "New clothes!!" she whopped, with a punch into the hair. "Once you've sorted out everything at the gym, I'm takin' ya shopping at Wall Market!"

Elena's face lit up momentarily at the thought of the therapy a good shopping spree with a friend would give her, only to fall back down again as she remembered her financial situation.

"I dunno Candy…" she said, the disappointment in her voice as clear as crystal. "I can't really afford to spend money on new clothes right now."

"Well," said Candice, her grin becoming thoughtful, but not disappearing. "I got meself a rich fella the other night-" she paused to give Elena a wink, who blushed, then continued, "-so I s'pose I can spare a few gil to get ya an outfit. You're welcome to raid my closet too! Though…" she trailed off as she looked Elena up and down, comparing their _very_ different body types. Elena had never thought of herself as small, but she definitely did not have the chest or hips necessary to hold up Candice's clothes of choice.

"You don't have to-" Elena began, only to have Candice cut her off.

"I know I don't, but I wanna!" Candice insisted. "Bang on me floor when ya get up tomorrow mornin' and I'll come out with ya." She started towards the rusty planks that Elena assumed had once resembled stairs. "See ya bright 'n' early, 'kay?"

"Okay," was all Elena could manage before Candice disappeared from view.

Elena took hold of the key that was still stuck half turned in the lock with a shake of her head. 'And people say that _I_ talk a lot,' she thought with a smile.

Once inside, Elena pottered around giving the kitchen the quick clean she had not had time to give it in the morning (the crumbs left from her toasted breakfast would attract bugs), all the while murmuring her evening mantra of: "Sleep… Sleep… Sleep…" When the awaited moment finally arrived the springy mattress and scratchy sheets felt like the softest, most comfortable of clouds.

Like every other day, today had been exhausting. But every second that passed was making tomorrow sound more and more tiring. Elena had a feeling that she was going to need every second of rest she could afford. The last thing she saw as she let her eyes drift closed was the red digits on the digital clock beside her bed: 23:53.

……

"You owe me _big_." Scarlet strolled casually out of the Honey Bee Inn. Reno and Tseng stepped out from the corner they had been concealing themselves behind, while Rude moved towards them from his position across the dirty walkway. The streets were mostly empty at this time of night, but the Turks had always been known to be overly-cautious.

"Why!?" Reno said, only just keeping his voice below 'raised' level. He was already frustrated from having shared a car's backseat with the insufferable woman in order to reach this section of the slums, and he was not looking forward to being stuck with her again for another half hour drive. Tseng and Rude, of course, always sat up front.

"All you did was rummage through a few drawers! _I_ could have done it!"

Scarlet's smug expression turned into a scowl as she looked at him. "No, actually, you couldn't have," she said, a disdainful purse creeping onto her lips. "Not only are you unable to wear the only disguise accepted in this place-" she indicated the tightly fitted yellow and black bodysuit covering her body and head band with antennae, the removed ass-bobble (as Reno has so politely Christened it) rested beneath her arm, "-but you have such a limited sense of organisation that you wouldn't even know where to start… rummaging."

Reno's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to let out a biting retort, but snapped it shut again at Tseng's 'warning' look.

"Did you find it?" Tseng asked her calmly.

"No." Scarlet replied simply.

Reno felt his face heat up as he tried to conceal his rage. A sigh from Tseng only encouraged him. Surely if their unshakable leader's patience was wearing thin with Scarlet and her mission to be as annoying as possible, then he could be excused for jamming his Nightstick into her eye and flicking the setting to NovaFry. Scarlet spoke again before he had the chance to carry out his plan.

"I'm a busy woman," she explained, obviously expecting to gain something. "As much as I like helping the Turks, I need a little payment once in a while." She smiled, suddenly seductive and ran a red polished fingernail down Tseng's chest. Reno thanked the Planet that he had not eaten for the last few hours and exchanged a nauseous glance with Rude. Tseng did not even flinch, but moved to roughly brush her hand away when it showed no signs of removing itself.

"We work for the same company, therefore extra payment will not necessary," he said coolly. He turned smoothly and began to stride back towards the smart, blue car that waited patiently for their return. Rude and Reno made to follow, but were cut off by a very angry looking Scarlet.

Scarlet had literally turned scarlet with rage and embarrassment. Clenching the fist not holding the ass-bobble, she yelled out after him: "Well, I don't have time to help you out anymore! Looks like you're just gonna have to squeeze that girly ass of yours into this costume yourself, 'cause I'm not doing it again!"

Tseng did not pause and reached the car before she had even finished talking. The 'bleep' of the automatic locks unlocking started Reno towards the car again. He ignored Scarlet, who still fumed as she stepped in behind him and Rude.

"I suggest," she said snobbishly once they were all in and on their way back to Shinra Head Quarters, "That you invest in a female Turk. Men can't do anything without a woman to help."

Reno frowned at her, but his expression softened when he caught Tseng's thoughtful glance through the rear-view mirror. It made him think, something many people thought Reno to be incapable of, that perhaps they did need a female co-worker. It would certainly decrease the amount of time he was forced to spend with Scarlet. Yes. Yes, that's exactly what they needed. He decided that he would begin to scout the very next day.

……

End of Chapter One

This is my debut fan fiction, so I'd very much appreciate feedback from anyone who has read it. This chapter has been reloaded after I re-read it and found about a trillion spelling and grammar mistakes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Just A Job**

Chapter Two:

Elena looked at her reflection in the stained Wall Market store mirror and wrinkled her nose. The tight, black mini-skirt she currently wore was so short that the blonde worried that the rest of the people in the shop could see her knickers. The bright pink boob-tube that 'covered' her chest was no less revealing and the heels on the shoes she wore were so thin and high Elena was afraid to move in case she snapped them.

"Whaddya think?" Candice asked from behind her, nodding approvingly at her masterpiece. Elena merely stared. Was that a trick question…?

Shaking her head, she said bluntly: "I look ridiculous."

Candice cocked her head and slowly circled her unimpressed friend. "Hmmm…" she murmured, though she did not seem to have found anything to criticize.

Elena sighed, pulling up at the edges of the boob-tube that had slowly been slipping down every time she breathed in. "I think I need something a little more… modest," she suggested to Candice's reflection, the brunette having moved back to her initial position behind.

Stepping lightly down from the twin towers she had been using as shoes, Elena wandered barefoot around the stop, browsing through various shelves, before returning to the change room with an armful of items. Emerging only a minute later, she presented herself before the mirror for Candice's inspection.

Now it was Candice's turn to stare as though Elena were somehow toying with her. "Umm…" she said, brow pinching slightly in doubtful frown. "El, ya need to show a _little_ skin. You're not gonna get any tips if ya dress like a nun!"

"Maybe it is a bit _too_ modest…" Elena thought aloud, chewing the inside of her cheek as she looked at herself.

"I like the jeans!" Candice said hurriedly, as though afraid Elena would take offence, nodding towards the light denim pants Elena had picked out. "But… yeah, I'm thinkin' the whole long-sleeved-turtle-neck thing won't really suit the theme of Steam."

Accepting the advice gracefully, Elena retreated back into the change room to try on the other outfit she had chosen. When she was satisfied that nothing was tucked in anywhere it shouldn't have been, she stepped out ready for Candice's expert critique. The delighted exclamation that greeted her immediately indicated that she had pleased her judge.

"Oh, Elly!" Candice gasped. "That looks _gorgeous_! Oh, I'm gonna have to bring out the big guns just to compete," she said with a laugh. "You're gonna pinch all me customers!"

Elena laughed along, slightly nervous of Candice's comment about competition, but glad she looked nice. Elena had always enjoyed getting dressed up, but because of the many layers of clothing required to live up in the North at Icicle Inn, she never had many opportunities.

Twisting around the see herself from behind, the blonde indulged her very small amount of vanity and admired how the pretty turquoise skirt accentuated her subtle curves. The skirt reached to just above her knees and flared out, only slightly, in a style she remembered being popular with the surfer girls at Costa de Sol a few years back. She had seen the style in various magazines, but alas, the all-year-round snow and ridiculously low temperatures of Icicle Inn prevented her from ever trying one on. The skirt was complimented by the simple, white double-strap singlet she wore.

"Well, I guess we're done here, ay." Candice was already walking towards the counter, the jeans Elena had discarded earlier and a pair of turquoise heels in hand. "I'm gonna get ya the jeans too, and if you don't wear these shoes… you'll just not going to wear any at all!"

Elena laughed as Candice reached the counter and dumped her load in front of the clerk. "I guess since it's your money I can hardly complain. Thanks so much for this, Candy," she said, the gratitude in her voice hardly measuring up to what she felt inside.

"Hey, no problem, honey," Candice leaned against the counter. "Hurry up an' get changed, I'll shout ya to some lunch." Elena knew better than to argue. If Candice wanted to do something for somebody, then do it she would, regardless of anything and everything else.

Returning to the change room for the last time, Elena carefully folded the newest edition to her mostly empty wardrobe and threw on the dark jeans and red t-shirt that had become her favourite casual clothes since coming to Midgar. Wearing nice things in the slums usually meant a sore head and mysterious disappearance of said nice things within a few minutes of being on the street. This uncheerful fact had caused the blonde's previously sharp fashion sense to just about evaporate.

Exiting the change room, Elena joined her companion and carefully placed her neat little bundle on the counter before the clerk, who had them scanned and bagged in a few seconds. Candice handed the required gil to the bored-looking shop owner and was half way out the door before Elena had even grabbed her bags.

Hurrying to catch up, Elena listened happily to Candice's chatter about the Wall Market sushi bar and their seventy gil specials.

……

"Alright, quiet!" Reno ordered, his eyes not leaving the leaning derelict of a building he was marching towards. "We're approaching the church," he added, unnecessarily, to the now silent Shinra soldiers that followed him.

'Gotta enforce authority,' he thought with a mental grin.

Ancient Duty, as the Turks had somewhere along the line begun to call it, was never taken very seriously by any of Shinra's most dangerous trio. The Turks followed the orders of the President alone, and Shinra's personal lack of interest in the girl meant a Turk was only every spared for Ancient Duty when he could no longer handle Professor Hojo's ceaseless nagging. Today happened to be one of those increasingly more frequent times.

Reno and his fellow Turk, Rude, had also come to the conclusion that their leader, Tseng, had some kind of history with the girl which added to their reluctance to capture her. Having chatted with her himself on more than one of his less-than-serious Ancient Duty days, Reno could also admit that a chick so sweet and innocent wouldn't last long in the Shinra science department.

However, after last night's pathetic example of a failed mission, Reno had thought it necessary to do his job properly. The President had been extremely upset with the Turk's unsuccessful retrieval of his… personal belonging, so the red head had gone all-out and organised a few of Heidegger's most able squad leaders to accompany him.

As they approached the huge church doorway, the echoed sounds of conversation met the Turk's keen ears. Holding out a hand to signal the soldiers to halt, he continued slowly and identified two voices: the high, female voice he recognised as the Ancient girl, Aeris. But the other, deeper voice belonged to someone he did not know.

Stepping silently through the door, Reno casually positioned himself against the edge of the last church bench, hands deep in his pockets. His first glimpse of deep-voice gave him the odd feeling he was going to be seeing a lot of this guy in the near future.

In a crowd, he would certainly stand out like a sore thumb. His hair was so blonde it looked yellow, and styled in the most ridiculous fashion Reno had ever seen: spiked up like some kind of electrocuted chocobo. Fairly short, but solid, Reno felt it safe to assume that the massive sword lying among the flowers at his feet did not belong to the Ancient.

The red head jumped as a loud 'thunk' echoed suddenly through the church, and ground his teeth as he realised his squad had become tired of waiting and decided to investigate themselves. The sound immediately drew the attention of the pair at the other end of the room and two sets of eyes snapped towards the source. Reno could not control the involuntary jerk his scarlet eyebrows made as he got a good look at Choco-head's face. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but his eyes looked suspiciously like they were glowing.

Aeris nervously took hold of the blonde's arm and the two murmured among themselves for a few seconds more. The conversation ended with Choco-head giving the girl a strange look, he then turned and approached Reno, who removed his hands from his pockets and stood straight to meet the stranger.

"I don't know who you are, but…" the blonde started, but stopped mid-sentence with a frown. Reno watched curiously as his eyes became distance and he mimed a few words soundlessly. From what he could read from the guy's lips, Reno was pretty sure he had said '…I know you.'

"Oh yeah…" Choco-head said, jerking out of his daze and recognition settling on his features. "I know you. That uniform…"

"Hey sis," Reno called around the unusual individual. "This one's a little weird."

"Shut up!" the blonde spat. "You Shinra spy!"

'Touchy…' Reno thought with an open smirk.

"Reno!" called a voice from behind him. "Want him taken out?"

"I haven't decided yet," Reno responded, his smirk still plastered on his face. Reaching to the holster attached to his hip, the red head pulled his Nightstick loose and gave it a lazy twirl. Choco-head braced himself into a defensive stance, his sword still laying among the plants a few steps behind him, but a low sound from the Ancient dragged both of their attention back to the front of the church.

"Don't fight here!" she begged. "You'll ruin the flowers!" Rushing forward, she grabbed the blonde's hand and pulled him away from Reno. "The exit is back there." Giving the red head a wary glance, Choco-head allowed himself to be drawn to the side door at the front of the church, leaning down to scoop up his weapon as he passed.

"Those were… mako eyes," Reno murmured thoughtfully, watching them disappear. "Yeah, alright, back to work, back to work!" Marching straight through the garden, he added to his squad as an afterthought as he reached the door: "Oh! And don't step on the flowers…"

Chuckling merrily at the curses and protests from the soldiers, Reno passed through the rickety door frame and immediately spotted the pair on the second floor of the church. 'Didn't even realise this joint _had_ a second floor,' he mused as the soldiers caught up with him. "There they are, over there!" he pointed, eyes widening as Choco-boy took an impressive leap across a big break in the floor boards.

Whirling around at the complete lack of response from behind him, Reno stared at the three soldiers. They stared straight back. "The Ancient is getting away!" he yelled at their clueless expressions. "Attack! Attack! Attack!"

'And these are Heidegger's _best_!' he thought with disgust as the trio took aim and open fired at the flower girl. When she fell with a strangled cry, Reno was pretty sure it wasn't because she had actually been hit by any of the oh-so-skilfully aimed bullets. "Think we killed 'em?" he asked nobody in particular, more for the sake of just saying something than actually seeking a response. He hoped they hadn't; Reno could not think of a single person who would be happy with that news.

A movement from below caught his eye and the red head grinned in relief as Aeris's head popped up from behind a fallen pillar. However, he was not the only one to have caught sight of her as an instant later the three soldiers under this command leapt down to her level. Reno arched an eyebrow as the closest to him turned around and gave him an 'it's all under control' military nod, before resuming his slow advance on the Ancient.

"Just grab h-" Reno began, the absurd tactics of the soldiers finally grating on his nerves, but a flash of colour on the edge of his vision pulled his eyes to a platform high above the church floor. A tuft of bright blonde hair was poking out from behind one of the barrels that had been stored up there.

"What the hell..?" he muttered as the barrel began to rock slightly. Realisation dawned and he had to keep himself from laughing out loud. "Watch out!!" he shouted as warning to the soldiers just as the barrel finally tipped over the edge – right onto the head of the soldier closest to Aeris. Reno winced at the loud crack as the soldier flattened to the ground, an arm all that was visible from under the pile of broken wood planks and wire. The other two soldiers paused for a moment, unsure of how to respond to the unexpected attack on their fellow, but barely had time to consider it before two more expertly aimed barrels knocked them out cold with him.

Reno watched from the door way as the Ancient scrambled up a diagonal pillar to rejoin her strange companion, and the two disappeared from sight. After a display like that Reno decided that they deserved to escape, so he turned his attention to the pile of broken wood shards and limbs that once resembled the most pathetic military squad the red head had ever worked with. Leaping down to their level, he gave each one a gentle nudge with his foot. No response. Whipping out his PHS, Reno pressed the memory button for the only number he ever called on the device.

'Turk HQ, Rude speaking,' answered a familiar voice. These days there was so much paper work for the Turks to get through there was _always_ someone in the office.

"Hey, Rude!" Reno exclaimed in the annoyingly cheerful tone he always adopted when speaking to his solemn friend. "Look, mate, I'm gonna need you to send some medical staff and a few stretchers or something down to the church in Sector 5. Had a little trouble…"

Anyone else would have wondered what in the Planet's name Reno had been doing to cause enough damage to need a medic and a few stretchers, on Ancient Duty no less, but Rude had never been the curious type and merely replied with: "Right. They should be down within the hour."

"Great! Thanks!" Reno replied brightly. The dial tone beeped in his ear before the red head had even had a chance to take another breath. A sigh escaped his lips as he paced aimlessly around the unconscious soldiers.

"I don't want to wait for an _hour_…" he moaned, already bored after 30 seconds of silence. Surely no one would miss him if he just left now… It's not like these guys needed supervising anyway. Where were they gonna go? Making up his mind, Reno strolled back out of the ancient door frame he had come through and headed for the church doorway. "I need a drink," he mumbled to himself as he exited the building.

……

"Two Screaming Orgasms, a Blonde Virgin and a beer…" Elena repeated under her breath as she returned to the bar, balancing an assortment of empty beer and cocktail glasses on the fancy serving tray the managers insisted she use. "Two Screaming Orgasms, a Blonde Vir-"

"Oi!!" Elena turned to face the voice. "Who do I gotta kill ta get a refill!?" slurred a man in the uniform of a Shinra grunt, waving his empty glass.

"Nobody, Sir," Elena called back. "I'll be right over."

The man nodded and Elena turned back towards the bar. A loud crash, followed by hoots of drunken laughter, told her that the Shinra soldier had missed his chair. Hoping fervently that his was not the only empty glass on that table, the blonde weaved through the maze of tables and people, nearly tripping over misplaced feet and chair legs every few steps.

A hand snuck out from somewhere and pinched her sharply on the behind. Elena nearly dropped her tray but did not pause, clenching her jaw tightly to control her urge to lash out. She had been working in Steam for four hours and had decided that it was definitely _not_ her kind of scene. The first guy to have pinched her arse could have left with a lot worse than a red cheek, but before Elena had had a chance to break every one of his fingers and kick him so hard he probably never would have had children, Candice had intervened. Explaining that the blonde would run out of breath before the night was over if she yelled at every person who touched her butt that night, the curvy brunette was able to convince her fuming friend to back down.

"Y'exhaused, honey?" Candice asked from behind the bar when Elena finally reached her destination.

Elena grunted and dumped the tray and its load unceremoniously onto the bench. Candice laughed. "Yeah, it's a bit like that, ay."

Elena recited her order and Candice had the drinks whipped up and presented for serving in what the blonde guessed would have to be a record time. Picking up the tray she did a quick scan to ensure everything was there.

"Candy, who's this one for?" Elena asked, noticing the extra drink.

"Oh, that's for that guy over there," she said, leaning over the bar to point. Following Candice's finger, Elena looked over to the far left corner of the room at a table she had passed numerous times that evening, but had not noticed its occupant.

She imagined that her eyes were being held in by only the tips of her eyelashes, they felt like they were popping out so far. This man… he was _beautiful_! Sleek black hair so dark that it looked almost blue, shining even in the dim lighting of the smoky, crowded bar, was pulled back into a loose pony tail at the nape of his neck. His features could only be described as perfect. Fascinating contrasts which caused Elena to wonder what his personality would really be like: he looked fierce, yet gentle; masculine, yet feminine. Judging by his olive skin tone and almond-shaped eyes, he appeared to be of Wutain descent.

"Gorgeous, isn't 'e?" Candice's voice interrupted her examination. "His name's Tseng, comes here a few times a week after work. He's a Turk."

Elena's eyes left the raven-haired man for the first time since she'd looked at him, to stare at her friend with raised eyebrows. "A Turk…?" she asked, disbelievingly. She'd always imagined Turks to be big, rough men.

"Yeah, no joke," Candice replied knowingly. "Ya can't see it now, but his jackets on the chair. I find it hard to believe meself – he's always so polite. Anyway, he comes in 'ere few times a week, just likes to sit an' watch, I think. Always gets the same, I usually just send one over after 'bout ten minutes."

"Ten minutes!?" Elena asked, genuinely surprised. "He's been sitting there for ten minutes? How could I have not noticed him before now…?"

"Like I said," Candice grinned. "He's a Turk. Ya won't notice him til he wants ya to."

Nodding absently, Elena moved away from the bar with her load, keeping the Turk's drink until last while trying to keep her eyes away from him as she sorted out her other customers. Finally, with no excuses left to distract her, she approached his table. With the crowd blocking most of her view, the blonde only noticed a few steps away that the Turk now had company.

How she had not noticed _this_ guy from any other part of the room, crowd or no crowd, Elena had no idea. Though not as enchanting as his companion, the newcomer was definitely handsome: his most distinctive feature being his wild, flaming red hair. The blue jacket tossed carelessly across the back of his chair indicated that he, too, was a Turk.

The red head was completely forgotten however, when Tseng looked up from their conversation and Elena found herself looking into the deepest, darkest, most beautiful pair of eyes she had ever seen. Noticing the sole drink left on her tray, the edges of his mouth curved up into a gentle smile. All Elena could do was to stare stupidly.

"Thankyou," he said simply, silky voice causing colour to flood into her cheeks and jerking her out of daze. Placing his drink down awkwardly in front of him, she avoided his eyes when he handed her a few gil, touching his hand momentarily. Blushing even more furiously she turned and walked as quickly as she could, without appearing desperate for escape, to the corner furthest away from the two Turks where she blew out her cheeks in humiliation. Man, she was just about ready to hang herself from embarrassment!

……

"Cheers, man," Reno toasted happily, once the waitress had walked away. Poor thing, Reno had been pretty sure that every red blood cell in her entire body had taken a pilgrimage to her face. 'Tseng just seems to have that effect on people,' Reno thought, taking a sizable gulp from the massive glass of something-with-alcohol he had ordered before joining his superior.

"How was Ancient Duty?" Tseng asked casually, sipping how own Black Russian much more slowly.

"Interesting," Reno said, once he had finally lowered his now considerably lighter glass. "Created plenty of paperwork for Rude, that's for sure. He prob'ly won't be joinin' us."

"Hope he gets it finished then, I've got Office Duty tomorrow." Tseng's façade of disinterest was rather good, Reno had to admit, but the red head knew that the Turk leader would want to hear every detail of his encounter with Aeris.

"So," Reno began, once he had finished relating the day's events. "You have any luck talking to the President?"

Tseng nodded. "Shinra says that he will provide funds for the training of a new recruit, if we can find a suitable candidate."

"You got anyone in mind?"

"No," Tseng shook his head. "Nobody already associated with the company matches the criteria, so we'll probably have to look outside of Shinra."

"Mmm…" Reno agreed, only half listening as the alcohol in his system began to settle in. Green eyes meandering lazily over the room, he found himself following the movements of the little blonde waitress and absently measuring up her qualities with those required to be a Turk.

She was pretty, for a start. Pretty enough that, with the right training, she could probably manipulate a man into getting what she wanted; but still plain enough to remain inconspicuous if the need to blend should arise – very important. She was quick on her feet, from what Reno could see: responding instantly to the constant, unpredictable movements of people in the bar. Though she did have a few close calls, he noticed with a grin.

The red head made a mental note to slap her on the arse next time she walked past, after witnessing the barely restrained rage written on her face after a particularly big, hairy hand had made itself known. A Turk always had to remain in control; though bum pinching tended to be a touchy issue with a lot of women.

"How 'bout her?" Reno nodded towards the petite blonde, who was at that moment sweeping up broken glass from underneath a dripping table.

Tseng gave the girl a long, hard look before raising a raven eyebrow. Reno shrugged.

"She physically fits the description," he reasoned.

"Maybe," Tseng said evenly. "But so do a lot of women. Her behaviour towards us earlier tells me that she probably does not fit the psychological description. If a pair of off-duty Turks are enough to make her nervous…"

Tseng's expression turned to open surprise as Reno broke into loud laughter. "Nervous of _you_, maybe," he chucked. "How many women _don't_ respond to you that way though, Boss? Especially when you give 'em the 'subtle-smile'," Reno continued to laugh.

Tseng frowned. "My smile is not subtle…" he defended, only sending Reno into newer, louder peals of mirth.

"We have no way to prove that she is mentally capable of dealing with high levels of stress and fear," the Turk leader said, distracting Reno long enough for him to forget what he thought was so funny.

"Well, we could always mug or in the alley or something," the red head suggested. "See how she reacts?"

Tseng made a sound of disgust. "Reno, that's a horrible idea and you know it!"

"I dunno!" Reno said loudly, his not-quite-drunk mind annoyed at being snapped at. "Go _ask_ her, then!"

Tseng leaned back into his chair and the pair sat in silence.

……

Midnight could not have come any later, or Elena would have been forced to do something rash in an attempt to force time into moving faster. But, thankfully, it arrived just in time meaning that her shift for the night was _over_!

Candice was helping to clean and would probably remain there until the early hours of the morning. Elena could not even _imagine_ staying at Steam for any longer and had rushed out the door the second the manager had said she could leave.

Stepping warily out the back door of the bar and into the alley, Elena slipped her hand into her bag to feel the little pistol she kept in the side pocket. Wandering around alone in Midgar in the middle of the night, even above the plate, was not the safest idea but she wanted to get home. On edge and alert, the blonde heard the heavy, uneven footsteps behind her long before she saw their creator and flinched visibly when a gruff voice called out to her.

"Hey, sweetheart!"

Elena turned her head slightly and caught sight of a big, hairy man stumbling along behind her.

"Where you goin', doll face?" he called out, his voice echoing unpleasantly in the narrow alleyway behind Steam.

Elena said nothing and picked up her pace. The man behind her appeared to pick up his too, keeping up surprisingly well for someone so intoxicated.

"Oi!" he yelled, a lot closer. "I said: where you goin'!?"

Elena stopped and turned around to face him. Her hand finding the pistol inside her handbag, she held it tightly. "I'm going home," she said. "I think that you should do the same, Sir."

The man grinned widely, showing a row of crooked, yellowing teeth. Taking a few steps closer to her, he leaned down and breathed in her face: "You interested in _joining_ me?"

Stepping back Elena fought the urge to cough, the rank odours of sweat and alcohol breath overwhelming her nostrils. "No," she said, distain dripping from her tongue.

"Any chance of changing your mind…?" the man leered, crossing the steps between them he grabbed roughly at her arms.

Twisting out of his grasp, Elena turned quickly only to have her head jerked back roughly by her hair. Letting out a cry of pain and fear, she slammed her elbow back into whatever she could hit of the man's body. He let out a pained cough as her elbow connected with his ribs, but he did not let go until she stamped on his foot, feeling the toes crush beneath her heel.

Pulling away, she realised that one of his hands was still grasping her handbag which wrenched off her shoulder, the pistol still held tightly in her hand. Looking at the leather shoulder bag for a second as though confused, the man discarded it before returning his attention back to Elena.

"Stop!" Elena ordered, raising the pistol and aiming it at his chest. The man paused and looked at the tiny weapon, before drawing out a knife from his own pocket. Taking another step forward, he held up his dirty blade with a feral grin.

"I said: stop!!" Elena said. She was surprised at how steady her voice sounded while her heart hammered in her chest. "You take one step, Mister, and I swear I'll shoot you where you stand!"

The man seemed to consider this for a second, his drunken mind weighing up the pros and cons. Making his decision he lifted the knife sluggishly and charged forward. Elena fired the moment his foot landed, the blast echoing loudly off of the concrete walls around them for several seconds after. Leaping back, Elena was forced to then jump to the side in order to avoid the body of the big man as he was carried forward by his own inertia. Collapsing nearly 3 paces from where he was hit, he died face down in the dirt with a sickening gurgle.

Eyes wide, Elena dropped her gun in horror. She had just killed him! He was dead! She had warned him, he had ignored her, so she shot him! Stumbling back, Elena's eyes flitted to the door of Steam and froze in fright. Two pairs of eyes, one green and one so dark she could not even make out where his iris and pupil separated, stared at her from the doorway. The red head Turk had his scarlet eyebrows raised in surprise. The other Turk, the beautiful one called Tseng, kept his expression blank.

Elena did not want to wait for his reaction, she turned and fled. Cursing her heels for being so difficult to move in, she ran awkwardly in the direction of the train station that would take her back below the plate. 'Back to where I can hide with all the other criminals…' she thought miserably, hoping passionately that no one else was following her.

……

End of Chapter Two

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	3. Chapter 3

**Just A Job**

Chapter Three:

Women, Reno officially decided, carry an awful amount of crap around with them. He had spread the entire contents of the little waitress's handbag across the coffee table in the Turks' Private HQ and the only item of interest was her wallet.

Reno and Tseng had been very surprised when they followed the blonde – who Reno now knew to be named Elena – out the back entrance of Steam with the intent of carrying out the red head's "plan", only to find some drunken fool had beaten them to it. Reno had found himself quite impressed with her ability to hold off such a large man, and also with how calmly she appeared to do it. But what he liked most about her was that she had carried out her threat.

She had disappeared pretty quickly after realising she was being watched, but Reno could hardly blame her. The two Turks had checked the body and, as suspected, he was dead. The bullet was a direct hit to the chest. Whether that was intentional or simply luck was anyone's guess, but it was a neat shot all the same.

Reno's attention had been drawn away from the dead man and his superior, who was crouched collecting the girl's discarded bag and pistol, when light flooded the alley. Two of Steam's managers and Reno's favourite brunette barmaid, Candy, stepped noisily out of the doorway, obviously drawn by the gunshot. The trio froze the moment they spotted the scene.

The red head knew what it must have looked like: a pair from Shinra's most dangerous unit standing over a body in a dark alley in the middle of the night… He knew what he would have assumed. He felt Tseng straighten up behind him, then take a step forward to be standing within Reno's peripheral view.

The movement had snapped the three Steam employees out of their frozen state.

"Whoa…" said the manager closest, taking a step back and holding his palms up. "We didn't see anything, okay!"

Before Reno could think of a response, the manager who had spoken ushered the other two inside and the door slammed shut, plunging the alley back into darkness. The red head turned to look at his companion.

"Boss?"

Tseng shrugged. "It looks like he's our now. We'll drop him off at the Midgar Morgue when we pass it."

Leaving a Turk caller card, a simple slip of paper with a blue 'T' printed in the left-hand corner, in his breast pocket to inform authorities not to follow through on the cause of death – Shinra controlled everything in Midgar, including the police and detective forces – the body was dropped off and the two Turks had returned to the Shinra building. That had been about an hour and a half ago.

Tseng and Rude had both left for the night, which left Reno to study the contents of the handbag alone. Apart from her wallet, there really was absolutely nothing of interest: a hairbrush, an assortment of clips and hair ties, lip gloss, tissues, pens, a loose key Reno assumed to be a house key, old receipts and other scrunched up paper balls littered the table in front of him, while Reno rummaged through the neat, black purse.

Tseng had not specifically said _not_ to go through the girl's private belongings, so Reno had chosen to ignore the subtle hints implying that he shouldn't and let his hands dive into the leather bag the moment his superior had walked out the door. He had no qualms about admitting his lack of shame, reasoning that going through her handbag can teach you a lot about a girl; despite the fact that he had learned very little. He now knew her name, address, and that she carried around an unnecessary amount of useless junk, information which told him nothing concerning her suitability for the Turks.

Glancing over at the wall clock, Reno was surprised to discover it was even later than he had thought: nearly 2AM. Holding the bag open at one end of the low table, he swept his arm across the surface and roughly pushed all the items off the edge and into the waiting pouch and tossed it carelessly into a corner. He would badger Rude into going down into Sector 3 with him sometime the next day. It wasn't as though his comrade would be busy – he only had Ancient Duty.

Standing up with an exaggerated groan, Reno shuffled over to the office's single desk where a black briefcase waited with his orders for the next day. He had Shinra Duty, where he could be doing anything from standing behind the President during a meeting to look intimidating, to an assassination job. The red head grinned widely at the tangle of wires and explosives that greeted him when he unlocked the briefcase. _This_ was why he got into the business!

But a quick skim over his mission brief, however, caused his grin to falter.

"Holy shit…" he murmured. This explosion was going to be a_ lot_ bigger than anything he had done before, his expression forming into shock as he read further into what he was expected to do.

Blowing out a deep breath, Reno carefully squashed everything back into the case and pushed it to the corner of the table furthest away from him. Moved back to his original position on the couch, he kicked off his boots and decided that he would think about it in the morning. Yes, in the morning…

……

"Get up, Reno," a voice from somewhere ordered. It couldn't possibly be time for that, already!

"Too early… Still asleep…" Reno mumbled in response, throwing an arm over his face when the inside of his eyelids flashed red from the outside light.

He grunted in surprise as the soft surface on which he was resting suddenly became vertical and he tumbled off, sprawled unceremoniously onto the floor. Rubbing his face, Reno sat up and gave the bald figure that held up the back of the couch a scowl.

Unsurprisingly, Rude said nothing and dropped the cheap piece of furniture back onto the carpet, only barely missing Reno's fingers. Snatching his hand to his chest, the red head glared at Rude's back as he went about his own business. Only when he was satisfied that Rude knew he was annoyed did the he use the coffee table to push himself to his feet and take a look at the clock.

"Argh, Rude!!" he groaned upon seeing that it was only just after 6AM. "Why the hell am I awake!?" Dropping back to the floor beside the couch, Reno buried his face into a cushion.

"Because you have a mission today, Reno," said another voice from the other side of the room. Raising his head, Reno realised that Tseng was already seated behind the desk, looking as sharp and refined as usual despite the disorderly towers of paper that surrounded him.

"Are you guys _always_ here this early?" Reno asked in groggy disbelief upon seeing _both _of his associates awake and working. He was sure to never be here until the absolute latest moment every morning.

"No," Rude answered from across the room.

Reno waited a bit for Rude to offer a little more information. Apparently, though, he seemed content with that answer. "O-kay… So, why _are_ you here?" he directed his question towards Tseng.

"The President has allocated each of us with a task for today," the Turk leader explained "Assuming you read your mission brief last night, you must be ready and are to report to the helicopter launch pad by 1300 hours. Rude and I will drop you on the pillar and scout the perimeter, it's believed the Ancient will be somewhere in that area too."

"Really? Why?"

"The description you gave of the man who escaped with her yesterday matched that of a mercenary hired by the rebel group, AVALANCHE. It is Shinra's intent to frame these terrorists as the cause of today's explosion. Information has been carefully leaked to the members to ensure their presence and we expect that Aeris will be among them."

"Oh…" Reno replied as his early-morning brain struggled to take all that in. "Meaning we have until 1 o'clock, right?"

"…Right," Tseng said and went back to his paperwork.

Reno's face brightened. "Well, that means we have plenty of time to pay a visit to Elena!"

"Who?" Rude asked after a moment.

"The waitress from last night."

Tseng looked up sharply. "You looked through her bag, didn't you?"

The red head grinned, only slightly sheepish. "Oh, come on! We would've looked through it eventually, anyway. 'Sides, now I know exactly where to find her."

Tseng just rolled his eyes – an action Reno knew he only ever indulged in when around people he truly trusted – before lowering them back to the desk.

"So, Rude," Reno wandered over to the tall Turk, who stood silently by the coffee machine as though contemplating whether or not to pour himself a cup. Reno grinned up at his friend and batted his ginger eyelashes. "Care to join me for a _romantic_ stroll down to Sector 3?"

Rude stared, his expression not changing. "How about a non-romantic train trip to Sector 3?" he answered flatly, his tone indicating that he did not think the shorter Turk's joke to be funny, or unfunny, just stupid.

"Yeah, or we could do that," Reno said, hopping out of Rude's way as he brushed past to collect his sunglasses and scoop up the girl's bag from the corner. "I don't imagine you'd be coming, eh, Boss?" Reno directed at Tseng, the piles of paper not much shorter since the red head had woken up.

Tseng looked mournfully at the messy mountains and sighed. "No…"

"Aww, too bad," Reno said sympathetically. Office Duty truly sucked.

Tseng made a sound in back of his throat but didn't look up again. Taking that as his cue to leave, the red head followed Rude into the hall and pulled the door shut behind him.

……

Elena stared at the crack in the ceiling above her bed and sighed. She wasn't even sure how to feel about the whole situation. Should she feel bad for murdering that man? Or relieved that the world now had one less disgusting slob? What if he had had a family…?

"Pff… I doubt it," she said aloud and rolled off the bed. Still dressed in her new clothes, though minus the shoes, she dragged her feet into the kitchen. Perhaps coffee would make her think more constructively.

'What am I gonna _do_?' she thought as she spooned instant coffee into a mug. Drawn between hopelessness and anger, she couldn't berate herself enough for being so stupid as to have just dropped all her things and then fled. Her pistol… Her wallet – although the change compartment was quite empty, it had her bank card, license and various membership cards – had been in that bag, along with the key to her apartment.

Breaking into her room really hadn't been all that difficult. 'Though,' she thought sulkily, 'I guess I _am_ an official criminal now.' After pulling the screen off of her bedroom window – her apartment conveniently being on ground level – Elena was able to use the tiny blade, that was thankfully still hidden in its home-made pocket in her bra, to pry open the rusted lock and slide the window open.

Just as she was raising the mug to her mouth, a loud knock on her front door caused her to jump and spill some of the steaming contents down her front. Gasping as the coffee soaked through her top and stung the skin underneath, she forgot about her previous anxieties and yelled out "Just a second!!" to whomever was outside. Her worries were quick to return though after she had scrambled around and found a damp cloth, which she pressed to her chest, and the burning pain subsided.

Who would want to see her…? It was still only very early, so Candy wouldn't be up. Nerves began to flutter in her stomach. Maybe it was the police? Those Turks had handed her things in and now she was going to be arrested! 'I don't want to go to jail!' she thought, frantically walking around in circles.

The sound of a key in the lock caused her to freeze. She watched the door with wide eyes and jumped back in surprise when it finally swung open. The red haired young man who stumbled in first she recognised from last night, but the tall man behind her she had never seen before. Nevertheless at the sight of their blue suits, one neat and pressed and one not-so-neat and pressed, her heart leapt into her throat.

"Morning," the red head greeted, strangely cheery.

Before she could stop herself, Elena was pouring out excuses. "I swear I didn't mean it!" she explained desperately. "He attacked me first! It was either me or him; I was just acting in self defence! He had a weapon too! I just didn't know what else to d-"

She snapped her mouth shut and leaped back when the red head took a step forward and held up his hand. Her own hand immediately went to the stiff shape in her bra strap, ready to slip the small blade out if either of them became hostile; she had heard a lot about the Turks and really was not at all sure of what to expect. They had originated as Shinra's scouts for potential SOLDIER candidates, but after General Sephiroth won the war so many entries came flooding in that they were hardly needed and their other 'lines of work' became more prominent.

'Maybe that man worked for Shinra!' she thought with sudden fear. It was not unknown for the Turks to be assigned as detectives for Shinra-related crime.

"We have something of yours," the red haired Turk said slyly, side-stepping so that she could see her leather bag hanging from the hands of the bald man still standing silently just inside the door. Unsure of their intentions, she remained still and looked two and fro from sunglass-covered eyes to cunning green.

"Reno, stop stalling," the taller Turk commanded gruffly from the door.

The red head's eyes darted to glance ever-so-quickly at his companion, before they settled back on her. Tilting his head back he flashed her a toothy grin. "We have a proposition for you," he stated.

Suddenly confused, Elena didn't move. Maybe they _were_ here as SOLDIER scouts… Or perhaps he was just playing with her. He seemed to take her lack of response as a sign to continue, "The Turks have recently been looking for a new recruit, preferably a female. Your little display last night impressed both my superior and I enough that we've decided to offer you the chance for some professional training."

Okay, now she was _really_ confused. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she found her voice, but even then the closest thing she could say to a word was: "Umm…"

The Turk just gave her a smirk. "You don't have to answer right now. My name is Reno, this is my partner Rude," he waved his had toward the taller Turk. "Here's a business card with all the info you'll need. Just give us a call within the next two days sometime, or we'll drop by to pay you another visit."

Elena looked up nervously from the card he had handed her at his last few words. "…Okay," she agreed quietly.

A brief nod from the bald Turk was all she received before he gently dropped her bag on the floor by the door and disappeared into the hall. The red head who had introduced himself as Reno remained for a moment longer; Elena held his gaze for a few seconds, then he walked out with what she thought sounded almost like a satisfied "Hn."

The blonde stared down at the business card as she listened to the retreating footsteps, but a sudden thought occurred and she was out the door before she even realised it. "Wait!"

Both Turks spun around. Reno, who was still closer to her door, kept walking backwards but his curious expression was evidence that he was listening.

"I mean, what about… last night?" Elena asked. The card in her hands was already becoming crumpled as she twisted it in her hands.

"Well, I guess that depends on you," the red head answered with a satiric smile. "That's the whole fun of working with the Turks: you can get away with murder."

……

Rude was waiting for him outside the apartment block when Reno stepped back out onto the street. He was rather pleased with the way that had gone. Before he had heard her voice call out, he was almost certain that there would be no one home. He couldn't imagine that she would have simply returned home, unless she had nowhere else to go. Another bonus: no personal restraints.

He had no doubt that she would eventually call them, especially after his little threat. She had openly admitted in front of the pair of them that she _had_ been responsible for the murder, despite all the excuses, which meant she was now probably squirming with the direful thought of being sent to prison.

"So…" Reno queried after waiting in silence at the train station for what he considered to be a long enough time to finally need to say something. "What did you think?"

Rude merely shrugged. Reno supposed that his companion had not seen the girl in action the night before, and her pleading display just before hadn't really been _quite_ as impressive as what he had seen. Oh well. If it didn't work out she could always be a secretary, or something. There was never a shortage of paperwork.

……

End of Chapter Three

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	4. Chapter 4

**Just A Job**

Chapter Four:

Elena stood in the middle of her living room and stared down at the card in her hands. True to his word, the card the red haired Turk had given her contained a phone number, facsimile and an email address. "Baddudemdgr. she read out loud with a soft snicker. This Reno, despite being a dangerous professional, seemed like quite a character. If _he_ had what it takes to be in the Turks, could she possibly…?

'Well, first things first,' she thought, placing the card on her kitchen bench. As an afterthought she placed her mostly empty coffee mug over one corner – wouldn't do for it to suddenly disappear. Holding the damp, now coffee scented front of her white singlet away from her body she shrugged out of it and tossed it towards the laundry basket. It missed, which was lucky as she darted after it less than a second later when a few urgent knocks sounded from her front door.

Fumbling with her shirt, Elena almost missed the soft call from the hallway, "Elly..?" But damp, stained singlet or not, she had no trouble hearing the second. "Elena!!" cried a frantic voice she recognised as Candice. When the blonde did not reply immediately, the desperate knocking became a loud jiggling with the door knob.

"Candy, calm down!" Elena called as she pulled the singlet down.

Candice was pulled inside, still holding onto the doorhandle, when Elena yanked the door open. Elena stared at her friend's frightened face expectantly, but before she had had a chance to ask where the fire was the blonde was nearly bowled over as Candice leapt forward and embraced her fervently. "Oh, Elly! You're okay!" the brunette sighed, squeezing even tighter.

"Yes," Elena squeaked, attempting, and failing, to push Candice away. "What's the matter, Candy?"

"Oh, I was so afraid!" the brunette gasped. "I saw somethin' last night, something I shouldn't have, and when I saw Reno again this mornin' I thought they was comin' for _me_… Oh, Elly! You only left a minute before, so when I heard voices down 'ere I thought you musta seen it too!"

"I didn't see anything…" Elena said slowly. Pointing at the pile of leather still sitting by her door, she explained: "They came to return something of mine."

Candice stared at the bag, confusion evident in every line of her face. Elena knew it was a bad excuse, but she was not quite ready to think about the Turks' proposition. Shaking her head, the brunette seemed to dismiss the improbable scenario of Turk charity and let her face light up with a smile. "'Kay, since we're both alive an' well, let's get some food into us, ay?"

Elena smiled. "Sure. But I need a shower before _anything_."

"Right," Candice agreed. "I'll meet ya back down 'ere in say… half an hour?"

……

The two women wandered aimlessly through the wall market, chatting happily and enjoying spending their evening's earnings. Elena had finally lashed out and bought the Cure materia she had been admiring for a while, while Candice treated herself to yet another set of shoes. Breakfast had been a while ago so they found themselves in search of a place to eat lunch.

"Ya know, I've heard o' this nice bar in Sector 7. Never been there, but the only bad review I've heard is 'pparently sometimes all customers get thrown out for no reason."

Elena raised a blonde eyebrow. "Yeah, sounds real friendly."

"Might as well check it out," Candice insisted. "S'not like we've got anywhere else to be."

Elena nodded and the pair casually made their way towards Sector 7. As they neared, however, the sounds of gunfire and shouting met their ears. The blonde looked around nervously.

"What's going on, Candy?"

"No idea," Candice replied, a frown of her own creasing her brow. "Maybe we should jus' find somewhere else to eat…"

Despite her friend's and her own uncertainty, Elena cautiously moved forward and peeked around one of the many large heaps of scrap metal. What she saw resembled some kind of war-zone: the fencing that kept intruders away from the Sector 7 pillar base had been breached; bodies of maintenance workers littered the ground around the stairs, but although there seemed to be a lot of blood most of them were moving. Three men who she assumed to be rebel troops stood guard. Raising her gaze, Elena could make out the tell-tale flashes of gunfire and magic at various points all the way to the top of the pillar.

Ducking back to where Candice was still standing frozen staring up at the pillar, Elena grabbed her arm and began to lead the brunette back in the direction they had come from. "I agree: let's get outta here. We don't need to be involv-"

A massive explosion cut off the rest of her words. Candice screamed and the pair clamped their hands over their ears. With her ears still ringing, Elena's eyes shot to the top of the pillar. Her blood turned to ice as she stared open-mouthed and wide-eyed at the huge chunks of crumbling concrete and metal that were plummeting to the ground.

Grabbing her friend's arm again, Elena all-but dragged Candice away from the pillar. The noise was enough to block out her shouted curses and the horrified screams of other people running with and around her. Just as the two women reached the edge of the sector the pair of them were blown forward, along with anything light enough to be forced off the ground from the impact. Tumbling painfully over scrap metal Elena finally came to a sudden halt when she slammed into a pipe.

Coughing violently from all the stray dust and dirt filling her lungs, Elena pushed herself into a sitting position and squinted around for her friend. She inhaled again but her shouts dissolved into another fit of coughing as dust ticked her throat. Using the pipe to lean on, the blonde pushed her way to her feet and found the settling dust easier to see through from her standing position.

"Candy?" she choked out, scanning the ground around her for any sign of movement. "Hello?"

Movement caught her eye to the right where a few people began to hobble away from the scene. Stumbling forward she called out Candice's name again, and cried out in relief when she was answered.

The relief was short lived, however, when she approached her friend and saw the blood and expression of pain on Candice's face. "Candy!" she exclaimed, kneeling down. Scanning over her body, Elena found the source of blood: a sharp piece of shrapnel had imbedded itself into the brunette's thigh. It was not bleeding badly, but the dirty bit of metal would have to come out before Elena could even consider using magic on it.

"Hey, Candy? Do you have your PHS on you?" Elena asked. Candice seemed to think for a moment, her expression still pained, before reaching down her top and pulling out the small communication device. Elena stared for a moment, then dismissing the brunette's choice of storage she grabbed the phone and flipped it open. Dialling up the emergency services, a voice answered her call after three rings.

"I need medical assistance down in Sector 8 immediately," Elena said into the mouthpiece.

'Thankyou for your call,' a calm, female voice answered. 'All emergency departments have sent units to assist both Sector 6/7 and Sector 7/8 intersections. Please remain calm until units arrive. Help will be along shortly."

The phone was then hung up. Elena sighed, "Sounds like we weren't the first to call. We're just gonna have to wait."

Candice nodded. Elena helped pull her into a sitting position and propped her up against a large piece of protruding metal. The blonde did not even know what half of the things in the surrounding piles were, or where they could have come from. The two sat in silence, the brunette's breath occasionally coming out in painful hisses, until the sounds of sirens were heard in the distance.

"I'll go and find somebody, okay?" Elena told her friend, who was shaking and sweating. "I swear I won't be long. I think you're going into shock, don't try to move."

Sprinting towards the sound, it did not take long for the blonde to meet up with the convoy of ambulances, fire trucks and police cars that had been sent to the site. Flagging down one of the ambulances, she made sure a stretcher was brought along as she led four paramedics back to her friend. Two disappeared to help others, while the two with the stretcher knelt down and observed Candice. They exchanged a few words and lifted her easily onto the stretcher. Elena followed them back to the ambulance but was stopped by a hand when she made a movement to board.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but there will not be enough space," a paramedic told her. "We are going to need you to return home. Your friend will be taken care of; you will be able to see her later on in the Upper Midgar Hospital."

Fighting her urge to object, Elena decided it would probably be for the best if she just co-operated. Giving a supportive wave and smile to Candice in the vehicle, she walked quickly to the train station, unwilling to get in anybody's way.

An hour later she was standing in her living room, staring at the business card the Turk had left behind. She needed to get out of the slums… and working at Steam was _not_ going to provide her with that opportunity. Shinra paid well, their workers received benefits and they provided excellent training. What did she have to lose? Making up her mind, Elena picked up her phone and dialled the number.

……

Reno was in pain. Every part of his body hurt, from his broken toe to his concussed brain, and it sucked! Never again would he underestimate his enemy, especially when they fought with a sword almost as big as him.

'Definitely a SOLDIER,' the red head thought with a painful wince. Though how, he was not sure. Shinra had no record of such an individual ever being in their top forces, though there was a similarity between the suspicious blonde and an old, "unsolved" disappearance case.

Whatever! He was in far too much physical agony to contemplate Shinra's corrupt mysteries. A broken collar bone, two bullet wounds – left thigh and shoulder, assorted bruises and stitch-requiring cuts, sprained wrist, broken toe and a not-so-mild-feeling concussion were the consequences he was dealing with for carrying out the President's orders.

The shrill sound of his PHS ringing caused Reno to jump, which then caused him to groan as his entire body punished him for his movement. A soft sigh floated across the room and the red head froze automatically. His attempt to crack open his eyes as footsteps echoed around his hospital cot was given up when his retinas threatened to disintegrate from the brightness of the room. Reno let himself relax, however, when Tseng's calm voice answered his phone:

"Hello?"

While Tseng listened to whoever was on the other end, Reno had another try at opening his eyes. This much slower attempt was finally rewarded with a blurry view of the room. Seemed he had been transported directly to the medical centre in the Shinra HQ tower.

"Excellent!" The Turk leader's pleased voice dragged Reno's eyes to the door where he could se a blue-suited back. "I will send for you immediately. We will set up a trial first, if you complete this satisfactorily, you will begin proper training."

Even through the fogginess of his concussion, Reno was pretty sure he knew who Tseng was talking to. Sinking back into his pillow with a sigh, the red head closed his eyes and let his superior take care of business. It was not long before he sensed movement in the room again.

"So," the injured Turk ventured, not opening his eyes. "What's the trial gonna be?"

After a moment of silence in which the red head almost thought he had imagined the rustle of clothing to his left, Tseng answered in his usual quiet tone, "I've sent Rude down to collect her. He has taken everything she should need and he will drive her directly to the HoneyBee Inn."

Reno opened his eyes to grin widely at the dark haired Turk. If he had not been in so much pain he would have laughed out loud, and he did not miss the amused twitch Tseng's mouth made as the Turk leader strode out of the room."

……

Elena stared at her reflection in disbelief.

'He can't possibly be serious!' she thought, though knowing full well that the man standing in the room next to her did not seem to know how _not_ to be serious.

The black and yellow body suit was a little stretched in some places, but it fit comfortably. However it was the ridiculous insect abdomen and feelers she disliked the most.

"This mission has already been failed twice before," Rude mentioned through the door. "The President would be most displeased should it be failed again."

Elena sighed and stepped out of her room to where the tall Turk was waiting. He looked her up and down with a nod and indicated for her to follow him as she pulled her coat on. He led her outside to where a sleek Shinra vehicle was waiting. Once strapped in, he handed her a manila folder with "#874" and two large, black X's written on the front.

"This is your mission brief," he explained as they pulled out from the curb. "Inside you will find everything you need to know."

Opening up the folder, the blonde sifted through the various bits of paper until she found an outline of what she was expected to carry out. It read:

'The Turk allocated mission #874 will:

Enter the Honey Bee Inn in the Midgar Wall Market [maps provided.

You must enter undetected [disguise provided.

You are to locate the suspect [photograph and profile provided.

You will retrieve the stolen object [picture provided.

Report back to the President.

This object is of great personal value to President Shinra. Any means necessary are to be performed in order to retrieve it.'

Elena looked down past the paper she had in her hands to find a photograph of a woman wearing the same costume she was. She did not look very happy; her face set into a defeated frown even though she was looking directly into the camera. Her make up was even thicker and cheaper than what Candice would usually wear. It was paper clipped to another document which appeared to have all the woman's personal details. It was incredibly specific, and seemed to include everything from her name, to her favourite flavour jellybean.

Flipping through the remaining pages, she found a map of Midgar and a detailed floor-plan of the Honey Bee Inn. The last page was an artist's perception of the stolen object she was going in to retrieve. Elena dropped the page and clamped her hand over her mouth, but still could not stop the snort of surprised laughter that exploded out of her.

Looking quickly over at Rude, who ignored her, Elena attempted to compose herself and took another glance at the drawing in front of her. It was a g-string. Black string studded with glitter and diamonds came together to a small black V of material where a golden 'S' was embroidered.

"What-", the blonde started, but had to stop and compose herself again. With determined seriousness, she tried again. "What is the point of this?"

Rude looked at her for a moment, and then looked back at the road. Elena thought perhaps he did not think her question deserved an answer and was about to try again, when:

"The object was stolen from President Shinra's private quarters on Lusty Lauren's last visit. Yes, she visits frequently," he added to Elena's questioning expression. "Something so personal to the President could be sold for a rather large sum of money, and we are aware she has already attempted to contact Dio, owner of the Gold Saucer. It could tarnish the President's reputation and influence the people's respect of him if something of that nature is released to the public. It cannot happen."

"Makes… sense…" Elena said slowly, though still doubting the urgency of the mission.

"Alright, we're almost there," Rude said, taking a left hand turn. "I am to escort you to the front door. Our back story is that I have been ordered to bring you back after your visit to someone in the Shinra HQ."

Elena nodded. Nerves began to crawl around in her stomach as Rude pulled the car to the curb directly opposite the Honey Bee. The street was still full of people, even though she knew the Markets had closed by now. The Inn appeared to be a very popular location during the evening, with a line of men waiting out the front.

After she had stepped out of the car and taken off her coat, Rude took hold of her upper arm and directed her across the road and towards the front door. The blonde kept her head down as men from the line, all ages, sizes and levels of intoxication, leered at her as she passed. At the top of the steps a security guard blocked their path. Rude stepped forward and spoke a few words to him, then turned around and strode back down the stairs without a second glance. The security guard stepped aside for her, and Elena walked through without raising her eyes from the ground.

The noise from outside disappeared the second the door slammed shut. Elena had time for a quick scan of the circular room she was in and the various doors leading off it, before the short, plump woman dressed as a bee standing in the middle shuffled over to her. Elena mentally named her Plumples.

"Finally," Plumples huffed moodily, and then wrinkled her nose at Elena's face. "Before I send you _anywhere_ you'd better go and fix yourself up in the dressing room. I know the make-up's uncomfortable but the lighting in this place is terrible so you need more than that!" Before the blonde even had time to protest she was being poked in the direction of the door at the very back, and was promptly shoved through the curtain.

Elena glanced around the room she was now in. It was more brightly lit than the circular room she had just been shoved out of, with a long mirror stretched across one wall. Underneath the mirror an extended dressing table followed the wall almost to do the door. It was covered with various types of make-up and application utensils.

The blonde moved forward cautiously and tip-toed along the length of the dressing table, keeping half her senses on the curtain behind her while the other half inspected the stained surface beside her. The mirror was divided by bright bulbs of light and a nametag was tied to each chair. Elena moved along the table until she finally found the nametag she was looking for.

Lusty Lauren's section of the table looked no different to any of the others the blonde had passed: her designated piece of the enormous mirror had a few smudges from make-up-covered fingers, the chair was pushed in neatly and the three drawers to the side were closed. Elena could not see any locks on any of them so she pulled the top one open.

It was a small drawer, only just big enough to accommodate the sandwich, drink bottle and apple that resided inside of it. Pushing it shut, Elena reached for the second and pulled it open: a brush and as many scrunchies that could be crammed into the space filled the second drawer.

'Please, please, please, please, please,' Elena prayed hopefully as the yanked open the last drawer. 'Damn!'

It was almost empty, but for three bottles of nail polish, each one a brighter shade of red than the last.

"If I was President Shinra's g-string, where would I be?" Elena murmured to herself, thanking the Planet that she was, in fact, _not_ the Shinra president's underwear.

"Alright, that's gonna have to do!" Elena jumped in surprise as the curtain at the other end of the room flapped open and a head appeared, quite low, from the other side. "The Group Room need another girl. Get in there pronto!" Then it disappeared.

The blonde looked around desperately. Creeping back toward the curtain she peeped out, the circular room was still empty except for the Plumples, who was waiting in the middle.

"I said '_now_'!" She'd been caught peeking. Elena stepped out from behind the curtain slowly and followed the little woman's finger to a door on her right. With a nervous sigh she marched over to it and opened it up. Looking at the ground as she entered, Elena closed the door behind her and stood just inside the room.

"Well, hello there, pretty lady," a man's voice greeted her as she entered. The blonde looked up slightly to see two other women wearing bee suits feeding fruit to an enormous man, severely underdressed for his size, sitting on a mountain of pillows. He was revealing a lot more than Elena would really have like to have seen. One of the women she recognised instantly from the photo in the file Rude had given her. Lusty Lauren looked just as unhappy in person as she did in her photograph. Her nose screwed up with distain as she dropped another grape into the large man's mouth.

"Well," the large man said with a friendly smile once he had swallowed. "Now we're all here why don't you girls join me for a soak in the hot tub?"

Both Lusty Lauren and her companion cooed their approval, but Elena could only watch in horrified fascination as the big man struggled to his feet, every part of him wobbling in the process. He stepped slowly over to the hot tub and reached under his folds of fat to grab at the only bit of clothing he wore: a tiny, black g-string.

Elena had to squint in order to continue watching as he dragged it off his body, whirled it around his head with a booming laugh, and then flung it across the room. It landed in the middle of the floor between the blonde and the hot tub the enormous man was struggling to step into. She stared at it, hoping to avoid looking at the giant in the bath for a few moments longer.

Although it lay crumpled on the carpet, Elena could not help but notice how much of it glittered. Cocking her head slightly so as to see it from another angle, she noticed a golden shape embroidered on the front of it, half covered by itself. She felt her jaw threatening to drop and clenched her teeth in an attempt to discourage it. There was no mistaking that it was the very g-string she was looking for, but what in the Planet's name was Lusty Lauren doing lending it to another client?

The two other women had settled themselves down on the edges of the hot tub, and were looking at her expectantly. The blonde took an uncertain step forward, when the large man spoke again:

"You know, I could really go for some chocolate. Something a little sweeter than these grapes, if ya know what I mean." Chuckling to himself, he reached over the stone wall of the bath and grabbed the basket which was now almost empty of grapes. "Before you sit down," he said, looking over at Elena. "Would you mind filling this up with something nice?"

Elena had to jerk herself out of her stunned position in order to walk across the room and accept the basket being held out to her.

"Don't take too long, love," the man said with a quick wink.

Elena smiled, turned around, and walked out of the room, making sure as she passed over the spot the g-string lay to drag her boot on the carpet and hook the skimpy item over her foot. Luck finally seemed to have decided to give her a chance, as the circular room she walked into appeared empty. Reaching down the top of her costume – pockets not included – the Elena grabbed the plastic sample bag she had taken from the file. She put her hand inside, reached down and grabbed the g-string through the plastic and flipped the bag inside out. No fuss and no need to touch the contaminated material.

She had just enough time to slip it back inside her costume when Plumples came barging out from one of the doors opposite to where the blonde was standing. She had a young man by the hair and was dragging him to the front door. She had nearly reached it before Elena was able to distinguish any of the words being shouted from her mouth:

"We look after our employees here! We will not accept that kind of behaviour! If I catch you anywhere near here or any of my girls ever again then you're going to be incredibly sorry!" With that, she tossed him out the front door, which had been opened and was being held by the security guard outside.

Elena felt a new respect for the bossy little woman, but kept quiet until the angry mutterings had subsided.

"Um, excuse me?" she ventured.

"Huh?" Plumpes looked up in surprise. "Oh, I didn't notice you there. What're you doing just standing around? I thought I put you in the Group Room?"

"You did," Elena said quickly to the other woman's suspicious look. "I, um, need to get some chocolates… for my client." She held out the almost empty basket in explanation.

"Hmm… you should know where we keep all the food. But you'll find the sweets on the top shelf in the dressing room basement. Be quick now, time is money, girl!"

Elena hurried back to the curtain-covered door she had been in earlier. She had not taken note of the basement when she was in there last time, but there had been an emergency fire exit which she knew would lead out to the alleyway where Rude was waiting for her.

……

"So she was just letting some random wear it, huh?"

Reno was slouched down on the couch in the Turk's Headquarters, one arm in a sling and opposite leg propped up on the coffee table revealing his bandaged toe. His other injuries had been healed with materia, but the broken bones required more time.

"Probably discovered no one wanted to buy it…" Tseng murmured. "As interesting a collector's item it would have made."

"She would've been making more money hiring it out to every fat bastard who wanted to play King of the World, anyways." Reno sneered. He glanced over at the Elena. She was sitting politely distanced from him on the same lounge and had remained quiet since giving her report.

"Well," he directly at her loudly, "Welcome aboard!" He couldn't help but grin back as her face cracked into a pleased smile.

Tseng moved over and handed her some forms. "You'll have to fill out these. Make sure you include your payment details, and all your measurements. Once your uniform is made you'll be able to start. Congratulations."

The raven-haired Turk leader stretched out his hand. Elena's cheeks warmed slightly, but she shook his hand firmly. Reno leaned over offered his own hand, just as Rude crossed the room to do the same. After shaking each hand, Elena folded the papers Tseng had given her and put them in her handbag.

"Thankyou for this opportunity," she said formally, clearly attempting to hide her excitement behind a façade of professionalism. "I'll bring all these back first thing tomorrow. I'd like to go and visit a friend now."

'And so the Terrifying Trio becomes the Fearsome Foursome,' the red head though as he watched her close the office door behind her.

……

"Candy!" Elena squealed with excitement as she embraced her friend. Candice returned her hug with equal force, despite the crutches tucked under each of her arms.

The hospital waiting room they were in was packed with people, some with only minor bumps and others with some rather gruesome injuries. Candice had already been seen to, and was on her way out when the blonde had spotted her.

"Elly, I'm so glad ya showed up!" Candice said with exhausted smile. "I woulda had trouble gettin' home on me own. 'Parrently there's only enough materia for the people with life threatenin' injuries."

"Really?" Elena asked, surprised. "I thought they would have had loads of material stored here…" Reaching into her handbag, Elena pulled out the green orb she had purchased earlier that day. "I know it's only a really low level cure, but this should help a little bit."

Candice nodded appreciatively. "Yeah, but let's get home first. I don't wanna go takin' all me bandages off here. There's other people who need the space more than me. What've you been doing all this time?" she asked as they made their way out of the front doors.

Elena smiled broadly. "I've got myself a job."

……

End of Chapter Four

And an end to this story. So there we have it! Finished! I could have gone on, but it would have been rambling nothingness so I thought I should just quit while I'm ahead. Please let me know what you think )


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